The Mule is controlled remotely by a human driver sat in front of a computer monitor showing a forward-pointing video feed streamed wirelessly from the vehicle (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

Data gathered by onboard sensors, a front-facing camera and laser rangefinder is analyzed by a custom algorithm, which determines a safe zone where the human driver has full navigational control of the vehicle (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

The utility vehicle is equipped with a Velodyne LIDAR, an inertial measurement unit, GPS, an onboard Linux PC for processing the sensor and positioning data and steering/accelerator/braking actuators (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

The data gathered by the onboard sensors is wirelessly transmitted to a remote driver module (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

Test drivers use a torque-enabled steering wheel and gas/brake pedals to navigate the vehicle over the obstacle course (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

Test drivers were sat in front of a computer monitor showing a forward-pointing video feed streamed wirelessly from a heavily modified Kawasaki 4010 Mule out on an obstacle-laden test range (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

MIT researchers have developed a semiautonomous safety system which allows a human driver full control of a vehicle until it detects that the car is heading toward a hazard or obstacle, at which point it takes control and steers to safety (Image courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

Interestingly, Anderson observed that test drivers who put complete faith in the system performed better than those who were untrusting (Photo courtesy of Sterling Anderson)

We all like to think we're in control ... never more so than when we're behind the wheel of a car, but there are occasions when errors in judgement can lead to a gentle bump, or something far worse. MIT researchers have developed a semiautonomous collision avoidance system where the human driver has full control of the vehicle until the system detects that the car is headed for a collision or is too close to an obstacle for safety. When such a hazard is detected, the system will take control of the vehicle, bring it back within a calculated safe zone, and then hand control back over to the driver.